180 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



associations or private timber-land owners, and (2) to develop closer 

 cooperation among various agencies engaged in protective work and 

 weld more or less scattered efforts into an efficient, organized system. 

 The policy in expending the small amount of money available is to 

 provide first for the needs of States whose resources are limited or 

 in which general and efficient fire protection has not yet been devel- 

 oped. Money is expended also through Federal participation in fire- 

 protection work, where such participation, even on a limited scale, 

 aids in cementing the activities of existing public and private agencies. 



The first attempt to secure anything like accurate data on foiest 

 fires in the United States in a given year was undertaken. Thirty- 

 seven States sent in returns which represented approximately 

 56 per cent of the forest area of the United States. With these as a 

 basis it is estimated for the whole country that in the calendar year 

 1915 some 40,000 fires burned over about 6,000,000 acres, with a 

 money loss in timber, young tree growth, and improvements of at 

 least $7,000,000. The tremendous additional loss from soil deteriora- 

 tion and floods can not be computed. It is believed that the loss in 

 1915 was considerably below normal, owing to favorable weather 

 conditions. 



Of very great significance in the extension of forestry throughout 

 the country was the action by the legislatures of Virginia and Louisi- 

 ana in making reasonably adequate appropriations for their forestry 

 work. The Forest Service rendered assistance by sending a member, 

 on request, to appear before the legislatures. Assistance in drafting 

 bills and formulating forest policies also was extended, upon request 

 of the States, to Georgia, Maryland, and New York. In coopera- 

 tion with West Virginia and North Carolina assistance was given in 

 the organization of associations of private timber owners to protect 

 their lands from fire. 



The publication of a classified compilation of the State laws dealing 

 with forestry has been continued, and a scheme of distribution put 

 into effect whereby it is now furnished regularly, as issued, to State 

 forestry departments, forest schools, legislative reference bureaus, 

 forestry associations, and similar bodies. 



RESEARCH. 



NATIONAL FOREST INVESTIGATIONS. 



Investigative work on the National Forests followed in the main 

 the same lines as in previous years, with possibly a slight decrease in 

 reforestation experiments and greater emphasis upon fire protection 

 and general economic studies. 



The most efficient protection of the National Forests from fire calls 

 for an accurate and scientific knowledge of all the factors that enter 

 into the problem. A comprehensive study was undertaken to secure 

 the basis for a more scientific method of distributing National Forest 

 fire-protection funds. The aim is to find the degree of intensiveness 

 in fire protection warranted by timber, forage, and watershed values, 

 as modified by their susceptibility to damage by fire. The study 

 covered also other phases of fire protection, such as the prediction 

 of dangerous conditions and the best means of fire prevention, detec- 

 tion, and control. 



